HAMPTON, Ga. – The front of his car smashed in, Corey LaJoie’s No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet rested on pit road, later needing a tow to get to the garage area to be loaded up and onto the transporter following Sunday’s Quaker State 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
There was much more to what LaJoie did on Sunday than that brief post-race image, however. He was two laps from pulling off a stunning upset, spoiling hopes of a sentimental win by the sport’s most popular driver, Chase Elliott, at his home track.
The final laps would shatter Cinderella’s slipper into pieces. Elliott got by on the high side going into turn 1 with two laps to go, before a final-lap charge by LaJoie coming off turn 2 on the high side was blocked by Elliott, stemming LaJoie’s momentum and forcing him into the outside wall. He’d be credited with a 21st-place finish as the caution flag during overtime declared Elliott the winner.
“I certainly expected that,” LaJoie said of Elliott’s block. “That’s what you’re supposed to do, right? You’re going for the win.”
LaJoie was no doubt a sentimental favorite. And Sunday’s race-winning owner, who LaJoie previously sent a hand-written letter requesting consideration for the No. 48 car, was among them.
LaJoie’s father, Randy, a two-time champion in what was then known as the NASCAR Busch Series, was a replacement driver for Ricky Craven during the 1998 Cup season for Hendrick Motorsports.
“I was proud, I was excited,” said Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick. “If we couldn’t win, I really wanted him to win. We do the motors for them and share a lot of things with (Spire Motorsports). He’s a great guy. I think a lot of (Spire Motorsports co-owner Jeff) Dickerson and those guys.
“That was a Cinderella story. If we couldn’t win, I wanted him to win because he drove a heck of a race. He did a heck of a job. He looked as good as anybody in this field out there.”
During a time of the season where the chatter surrounds playoff positioning, it was LaJoie and his No. 7 out of the Spire Motorsports stable that, thanks to strategy as the race went on, found his way near the front. But LaJoie didn’t run a few token laps near the front. Rather, he stayed there, leading 19 laps.
“It’s a little bit emotional,” Lajoie said of racing against Elliott for the win. “The last time I race with nobody in front of us but the pace car was 10 years ago. Obviously, our careers have…
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